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Thursday, September 6, 2007

B.F.I.

Posted
on Thu, Sep 6, 2007 at 4:00 AM

It almost always holds that if a record comes with a great story, the music on that record will only be half as interesting without the story. BFI was recorded 'in the late '60sâ?� by three brothers in Southern California. It was, as stories such as this insist upon, the only album they ever recorded and it sat unreleased for more than 30 years. It's also, as stories such as this insist upon, purported to be a highly individual distillation of all the musical virtues of the era; so unique, in fact, that record labels passed and the Dragons were forced into session work. (One gig was even as backing band for that infamous story-makes-the-music act, the Beach Boys.) The whipped cream on top of this story? One of the brothers ended up becoming the 'Captainâ?� of the Captain and Tennille. The cherry on top of that whipped cream? Another of the brothers went on to form the Surf Punks.

While rarity-lovers and obscurantists may insist that these 11 cuts are some sort of lost treasure, there is little here to distinguish the Dragons from their mellow-rocking peers. Midtempo numbers dominate ' which shouldn't be surprising, considering the future musical course of Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille ' all of which are undercut with wan attempts at 'funkâ?� that evoke the likes of early Chicago. And while one must assume that this trio was well-versed in studio techniques, the most unusual sonic touch they employ is the inexplicable overuse of the sound of a baby crying. Again, the story is great. The music? Not so much.